Sunny

Summary:
Carlisle's/ Clara's/Bella's POV: An inspiring 13 yr old girl becomes Carlisle's newest patient and quickly wins his affections. When her mother suddenly dies, Carlisle instantly steps in to care for her and makes her one of his own.

Notes:

3. Chapter 3: Jasper's Victory

Two days after Sunny’s emotional recovery (and I use that term delicately) Sunny’s second bout of chemotherapy began. I could tell almost immediately that, though her spirits had improved greatly, she still wasn’t fully herself. She no longer tried to resist the affects of the poisons in her body. She didn’t play her little “mind over matter” game any longer. Although I had disapproved of that habit initially, I was starting to realize the benefits of what she had actually been doing for herself. Clara was losing weight at a shocking pace now. Everything going into her system, it seemed, was immediately expelled and she was becoming rail thin. I had no choice but to place an order for a feeding tube to be inserted into her stomach as soon as possible.

On the evening before the feeding tube was to be implanted, I entered her room and immediately realized that, despite the total silence that filled the air, Sunny was not actually alone. Jasper was seated in the shadows on the opposite side of her room, watching her intently as she slept. He was set back so far into the darkness that no human would have even known he was there.

He seemed completely unaware of my presence, his eyes never drifted from where Clara lay so peacefully. I knew that Jasper still struggled with our “vegetarian” lifestyle, that the urge to consume human blood was a battle he fought with himself everyday. This was the only concern that occupied my thoughts upon seeing him alone, in the shadows of Clara’s room. “Jasper?”

I detected no response at all after initially speaking his name. The silence stretched out for so long that I was starting to feel a bit apprehensive. I positioned myself at the head of Clara’s bed, listening to the sound of her light, even breathing as she continued to rest, undisturbed.

“She’s scared.” His tone was reflective and concerned as his eyes remained on Clara. It was the first time that I could recall Jasper ever being in the presence of a human without obvious distress. There wasn’t a note of strain in his voice, betraying his uneasiness with his proximity to the blood that he craved so intensely.

“Yes, she is. I told her I would stay in the operating room with her during the procedure if it would bring her any comfort. It’s such a minor, routine process, hardly worth any concern at all. Twenty minutes and it’s done.”

He didn’t answer my question. “She spoke to me earlier, before I helped her to relax and rest.” There was a subtle note of personal pride reflected in that comment. “She knows she’s dying. She can feel it coming closer everyday.” He was at my side then and I could see anguish inside of his eyes. Because of Jasper’s ability, he feels all of the emotions of everyone around him at all times, but only while they’re conscious. The anguish I saw in him now was not coming from Sunny; it wasn’t coming from me. This pain was Jasper’s. “I think I understand now,” his eyes flickered to me.

“I think I understand what you and Edward see in them. I didn’t comprehend before, how you would want to protect them. They are fragile creatures.” His fingers brushed gently over Clara’s hand as he spoke. “ Edward mentioned hearing something in her thoughts when he was last here. It was something about our cold hands and how she realized that all of us were cold every time we touched her. Then she hugged you, as Edward watched, and another thought flashed into Clara’s mind. She could only hear your breathing, not your heartbeat.”

Jasper turned to me again and I can imagine that my face looked quite shocked. He was quick to clarify. “She doesn’t know what we are. Edward had said that she dismissed the observation, telling herself that she was just at an odd angle and had missed the sound.” A look of amusement crept into his gaze then. “She also dismissed your cold hands, telling herself that every doctor was the same in that way.”

I grinned at the thought of Sunny’s summation and we both were quiet then, watching as Clara slept peacefully, her breathing even, her heartbeat strong.

“How long have you been here,” I asked again.

This time Jasper turned his attention to me with a shrug. “Hours, it seems. It wasn’t dark when I arrived.” His gaze drifted to the wide, expansive window that took up the entire back wall of Sunny’s hospital room.

“How did you get past Alice? I can’t imagine that she would let you come here by yourself, knowingly.”

His attention returned to me and he smiled to himself. “She did confront me as I was leaving.” A grin broke out on his face and he shrugged again. “I told her she could wait in the lobby for me, if it made her feel better. She’s down there now.” His next statement was muttered so softly that I knew he was no longer speaking to me. “I had to know if I could do this.”

I let my irritation and disappointment with his decision finally take over, a hard edge entering my voice. “And what if your willpower had failed you? What if the call of her blood had been too strong and you lost control? You could have killed her, Jasper! How could you have taken such a foolish risk?” My tone was a harsh whisper.

“I would have seen him hurting her first.” Alice was now standing on the opposite side of Clara’s bed, her eyes fixed on my angry expression, her voice a low murmur in the darkness.

I turned my attention to her now. “You would only have seen his attack after he made the decision to strike. By then, it would have been too late. You know that, Alice. You shouldn’t have let him come. You shouldn’t have agreed to leave him alone. How could the two of you not have seen the danger in your choices? You both know better than this!” My glare shifted from one child to the other as my fury burned. A human child’s life was at stake. Clara’s mortality was not a toy to be played with.

I caught the look of shame that passed between them as the truth of my words sank in. Both sets of eyes glanced down at Sunny’s sleeping form, noting for the first time it seemed, her frailty. Jasper opened his mouth to speak as he glanced back at me but I cut him off before he could utter one syllable. “Go home, the both of you.”

Another glance passed between them then. This time it was filled with shock and confusion. “But I didn’t hurt her. Carlisle, I managed to maintain control.” He was watching me, helplessly.

I could feel my anger starting to recede in the face of Jasper’s guilt. “Yes, you did and I am proud of you, Jasper, but you never should have taken this risk in the first place. You had no idea, when you made the decision to come here, that your plan would be successful.”

His gaze dropped to the floor, his words were barely above a whisper. “Carlisle, I’m sorry.”

I sighed deeply. My eyes flickered from Alice to Jasper then down to Clara as I stepped toward the door, gesturing for the two of them to follow me. “I know you are, son.”

We walked to the elevator in silence and I smiled weakly at the two of them as they stepped inside. “Go home. Let everyone know that I will be there in a few minutes and to plan for a hunting trip. We’ll go as soon as I arrive.”

Alice nodded at me before the doors closed.

I made my way back to Clara’s room, checking on her one last time before leaving for the night. I would be back before she awoke the next day and be at her side as she was prepped for surgery, just as I had promised. For tonight, I longed for the familiar comforts of home and the company of the rest of my family.